Traction devices are often employed by patients with back and/or neck problems of the type that can be positively affected by the application of a tensioning force to the back and/or neck.
These devices often comprise a chair and a traction apparatus fixed to the back of the chair. The apparatus usually includes a sling suspended from a cable for placing under the patients chin and around the back of the neck. The cable extends from a tensioning means upwards to an over hanging beam located above the head of the patient and then downwards to the sling. The tensioning means may or may not be adjustable by the patient when seated on the chair with the traction device in use.
These devices are simple in principal to use and therefore could be used by a patient with little or no supervision by a physician, but they are also currently expensive and often unnecessarily complex and therefore are primarily utilized at hospitals and clinics. Traveling to and from the hospital or clinic for treatment is often inconvenient or difficult for the patient and therefore presents a disincentive for the patient to continue with treatment over an extended period of time except in cases where the back or neck problem is serious.
A second problem of these devices is that they are usually gallows like in appearance, include a clinical looking chair, and are permanently fixed to the chair. This makes them unattractive for a patient who may wish to purchase one and have it for use at home, or to attach a traction device to an existing chair, thereby solving the problem of having to go to the hospital or clinic and making it easier to make beneficial use of traction on a more regular or continuous basis.
A traction device is needed therefore which is inexpensive, is relatively attractive and inconspicuous when mounted on a chair for use by the patient, and which can be used with most household chairs.